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Companies charge us more out of the kindness of their hearts, new Stanford Graduate School of Business (SGSB) study shows.

In each of three different studies, participants were given energy drinks that supposedly make consumers feel more alert and energetic. Some participants paid full price for the drinks; others were offered them at discounted prices. The participants were then asked to solve a series of word puzzles. In all three studies, the people who paid discounted prices consistently solved fewer puzzles than the people who paid full price for the drinks.

Companies charge us more out of the kindness of their hearts, new Stanford Graduate School of Business (SGSB) study shows.

In each of three different studies, participants were given energy drinks that supposedly make consumers feel more alert and energetic. Some participants paid full price for the drinks; others were offered them at discounted prices. The participants were then asked to solve a series of word puzzles. In all three studies, the people who paid discounted prices consistently solved fewer puzzles than the people who paid full price for the drinks.

So when Grandma has to eat canned cat food ’cause the HMO’s are bending her over the Formica, at least she can take comfort in knowing that her mind is causing her medication to work to its fullest effect.

Were these studies run with a control group? That is, the results compared with identical studies run by a group of researchers whose future livelihoods don
t depend on bloating profit margins?